Least Said, Soonest Mended

Andy Lindsay and I continued our 8 day France visit today after spending one night in the Railway Station waiting room at Avignon and a second in a hotel that was altogether less comfortable at Nimes. The other misfortunes of this trip are not worth going over, suffice to say Andy was called home at short notice, which in my view was a blessing in disguise. We moved down to Montpelier giving us just a glimpse of the South of France and a little respite from the past 2 days.

A fine hotel, decent pate, succulent streak tartar and good wine ended our holiday, albeit abruptly, so we were lucky to get a flight back to Luton, each making our different ways home. Below are a few photographs of the city, and hope to be back to normal tomorrow.

It's Been a Hard Days Night - The Beatles

We are now in Montpelier but not for much longer. This gig has gone from bad to much worse and we feel we could be on our way home very soon. Please bear with us during this period of indecision. Tomorrow, hopefully, will be another day!

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Viva la France

The up-side to our night in the Train Station Waiting Room was the warm, balmy weather and I can tell you the 06-03 service to Nimes didn't arrive a moment too soon. A great way to start your birthday, we celebrated with a couple of cups of coffee and a croissant. Even here the hotels aren't exactly short on clientele, but the good news is we do have a couple of rooms!

Most of the morning was spent trying to master the French Internet and get ourselves a hire car for 5 days starting tomorrow, but it hasn't been easy. Eventually, we had to give up and walk to the Eoropcar office, only just across the road, but the 'on site' booking proved to be nearly twice that on-line. Provisionally booking it, we returned to the hotel and lap-top and with a little more patience finally got the booking.

This was followed by a walk around the town, but by now the sun was high and sweltering hot - nothing seems to be falling into place.

However, the first of the 2 town's churches looked impressive enough peeking over the high trees,

while the monument to the French Revolution was also eye-catching.

The most impressive feature of the town was undoubtedly

the Roman Amphitheater, latterly used as a bull-ring

distinguished by this fine bronze Matador, but we are pleased to announce that this barbaric practice no longer functions!

To the side of this were a number of Government Buildings

but th back of the almost complete rotunda was equally worth a photograph.

We didn't get the name of either church, but this one looked the biggest and finest so considered it the 'parish church',

while a few paces around the corner we found what must have been, in days of old, the town's water supply?

We both agreed it could have done with a few Carp to cheer up the otherwise lifeless water, but there was a Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly on hand, plus a further c2 that remained unidentified.

There were however a couple of birds to add to the extremely short list which now stands at:-

House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Common Swift plus this Mallard and Ruddy Shelduck.

There were a number of other tributes to a by-gone age, with this statue of Hadrian,

and what was left of that period was sympathetically complimented by Romanesque features,

including this balustrade and terracing,

climbing gently to a large wooded area beyond.

In the streets the men played 'boules',

keeping the ancient and national game alive.

Andy on the other hand, found this original 1972, water cooled Suzuki of far more interest and when the owner arrived, jokingly offering the key that was the 2 of them in conversation for a good few minutes.

Good luck continued to evade us as at about 16-00 we both felt we could do justice to a decent steak and bottle of Claret. As it happens 15-00 to 19-00 is Chef's siesta time in all of the restaurants and taverns, so we had to make do with salad (rabbit food), bread and a couple of pints of French (and very good we have to say) beer, and retired at 19-30.

On the Road Again

The newly refurbished St Pancras Station, very nice except I had to walk the concourse twice before finding the all important 'beer bar'.

On a very blustery day, and after a full English breakfast at the William Henry it was a 4 hour journey from Weymouth to London, Victoria via the National Express coach. From there it's just 5 stops on the Victoria Line tube to St Pancras railway station, where I met up with my long time friend Andy Lindsay. Both of us have had a desire to travel on the Euro Star to Paris since its inception, so today was the day. Originally it departed from Waterloo, where during my regular journeys back to the rig I was able to view the building of the new station extension.

Euro Star, a little underwhelming! It rattles on at a fair old pace but once your in the tunnel the views become a little restricted.

The TGV = Train à Grande Vitesse, meaning high-speed train

We had decided to book nothing after the Euro Star allowing ourselves full flexibility, however this was to backfire on us. With only 'first class' tickets available for the next TGV train to Avignon, the £200+ price tag was prohibitive so we had to await the 21-30 which got us to our destination just a little before mid-night. This train is 'fast' (180 mph) to say the least, but no matter how quickly we traveled it couldn't alter the situation at the other end. Arriving in the heart of Festival Time there wasn't a hotel room to be found in the city. This is a situation that has only befallen me once before in all my travels, the place and date being still clear in my memory. Thessaloniki, Greece 11th September 2001 is a date we all remember. The Greek Premier was holding a pow-wow in the city and every hotel was full, forcing Billy Crumble and I to take an expensive taxi ride to the coast. On the way all we could get from the driver was USA Boom, USA Boom and it wasn't until that evening over barbecued lamb and Retsina we discovered the World Trade Center had been attacked.

Visiting Local Haunts

A decidedly autumnal feel about the weather this morning, even some leafs were falling from the trees. Any further proof of season was endorsed by 'screaming' Swifts overhead, something I haven't hear for a number of days, and as the day wore on there was even a little sunshine. I was greeted at Radipole by literally 100's of Sand Martin, while at the concrete bridge there was a chance to take the photograph below, with just a single Common Sandpiper (which Ian Stanley pointed out as I'd missed it) to add to the list before walking to Lodmoor.

Juvenile Tufted Duck

Golden Samphire

Probably due to the fresh breeze that sprung up overnight there were a number of Gannets in Weymouth Bay, this one being the closest at about 300 yards off Greenhill Beach.

Clicking on this photograph of the Common Tern colony at Lodmoor might give some idea of the success rate this year. Many young are now 'fledged' and in general seem to be favouring the mud close to the nests, but even then I counted 56 juveniles on the islands. It was also interesting to note that one parent bird was carrying what looked like a 'orangy/pink fish which looked every bit like a Pout Whiting. I have only ever seen them catch Sand Eels.

Teasels, good numbers springing up all over the Moor and will doubtless make nice Christmas decorations at the end of the year!

c13 of the c30 Dunlin seen this morning

Among the small flock of Gulls were c2 adult Mediterranean's, one in flight

and the other perched.

A juvenile Mediterranean Gull in company with adult Black-headed's,

plus a few juvenile Black-headed Gulls.

It is becoming difficult now to discern the full grown juvenile Shelduck from the moulting adults, and in addition to those already mentioned, a single flighty Little Egret, another Common Sandpiper, c4 Lapwing and c2 Sandwich Terns of which one was a juvenile.

Busing to Portland it was of little point stopping at Ferry Bridge as it is 'spring tides' and it was 'high'. So straight to Reap Lane and a walk to the Observatory which produced a 'blank'. However, just before the gate a car driver stopped and advised me that a Crossbill had been frequenting the bird feeder in the Obs. I quickened my pace but on arrival found it absent, but, was just in time to see a reasonably close Balearic Shearwater fly by. Time to make a coffee while John Lucas watched the feeder, and fairly soon it returned.

Not the best looking Crossbill in the world, but

always good to see such an infrequent visitor particularly 'feeding'. Thank you John & Martin.

and it's good to see what I think is Tree Mallow in full bloom.

and finally, as I walked home this juvenile Herring Gull struck a pose so I let it have it. The rooftops seem to be full of them this year, certainly not to everyone's liking, but I love 'em especially their raucous behavior in the mornings.